420a air compressor not spinning

[GSTurbo1]

Ok guys so 105' F today and my girlfriend officially hates my car. ! I personally like to roll down the windows and rock on but that did not cut it today. Anyways when I turn my a/c on the compressor does not spin. It has a belt hooked onto it and everything but it seems as if it does not want to engage. Should I check fuses for it (if there are any) or trick it somehow into turning on. I went and bought the recharge kit for it, just trying to figure out how to get the compressor spinning.

[96' Eclipse GS]

You can jump the ("low side pressure/Cycling" a/c switch) with a paper clip and see if the (A/C clutch) engages. If it does then you know the switch is shot, if it does not. Then you may have to replace the (clutch) or A/C compressor all together.

[GSTurbo1]

dang son... that sucks

[jayson427]

Power probe the sensor at the compressor and it will engage your clutch or not .

[Kng Nothg]

or with the car off , if the car is cooled down grab the clutch and see if itll spin

[Doug99RS]

Originally Posted by Kng Nothg

with the car off down grab the clutch

You take all the fun out of internet tech support. Just saying.

The compressor may not come on for several reasons. Low refrigerant level, excessive clutch gap, electrically failed clutch or other electrical issue.

If the belt is not squealing or smoking then chances are the compressor is not locked up. Spinning the compressor clutch by hand will at least confirm this but outside of that checking it won't yield tons of info to use here.

If you hook up the a/c recharge kit then it should have a gauge on it indicating the state of the charge. If the gauge comes up above 20-30 psi and you still have no compressor engagement then we can rule out charge level as a possible cause of no clutch engagement. Note a medium to low charge will be enough to cause the compressor clutch to engage BUT it will probably cycle rapidly and the compressor forces the low said pressure TOO low which will cause the low pressure switch to cut off the compressor.

If you unplug the a/c compressor clutch, crank the car and turn on the A/C then you should hopefully see 12 volts on the wire going to it. This is what Jayson was getting at though power probe is a tool, not a technique. We just want to see if you've got power (the power probe will buzz/illuminate in one manor OR if it's shorted to ground it will buzz/illuminate differently. Additionally, you can APPLY power using the power probe to force the compressor to come on.

If you don't have a power probe then you can simply use a test light or multimeter to check for power. Additionally, if you unplug the compressor then you should be able to apply 12 volts TO the compressor and force the compressor clutch to clamp down. You can do this with the car running though I don't recommend doing it for more than a minute at a time.

If the compressor clutch engages then you need to figure out what is preventing the system from working properly. A low pressure switch, a blown fuse, a bad relay or bad switch at the dash are the sort of culprits that cause this type of failure.

If you provide power to the compressor and it still doesn't engage then you have a bad clutch and should replace the compressor.

[Kng Nothg]

no just stating a good place to start after that id do the paper clip trick in the switch.

[GSTurbo1]

thanks... I'm going to try everything. I cant handle it without a/c

[Slo2gen]

IIRC this car doesn't have the stock ecu controlling anything so intern doesn't have the ecu telling the AC to kick on, although I could be wrong and Levi might have added it back in.

[GSTurbo1]

i'll have to ask him

[Kng Nothg]

Originally Posted by Kng Nothg

with the car off down grab the clutch

Originally Posted by Doug99RS

You take all the fun out of internet tech support. Just saying.

Although i did give him something relatively simple to try.. as (in my experience) is easy to find out if the compressor is locked.

The info i gave was "start simple stupid" I know youve had to have heard of that.

And yes, the indepth information you gave is true. It could certainly help this person, or could very well overwhelm them. Depending on their skillset/experience

[GSTurbo1]

I'm going to try to spin it by hand.... first and I love the futurama reference. Fits fry perfectly

[Kng Nothg]

Originally Posted by GSTurbo1

I'm going to try to spin it by hand.... first and I love the futurama reference. Fits fry perfectly

Make sure that you're gripping the middle section (the clutch) and not the pulley...

Check this picture out for reference...

http://www.carsteering.com/data/all_...1U-700-Map.jpg

[Doug99RS]

Originally Posted by Kng Nothg

And yes, the indepth information you gave is true. It could certainly help this person, or could very well overwhelm them. Depending on their skillset/experience

My remark about taking the fun out of things was sarcasm.

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS), yes, I've heard of it. I've also spent tons of time in front of a computer providing one line tech responses getting one line test results back. Over the years I've found it's more valuable to provide more information, more test procedures and information surrounding tests and possible outcomes.

It's pretty easy to get a feel for a person's capability to actually test stuff when you provide a quick response with a decent amount of detail. If it leads to a lengthy response full of details of what they found then you keep playing ball at the same rate. If all you get is "it don't work" then chances are you're going to have to slow things down or walk away so you waste too much time helping someone who can't help themselves.

[Kng Nothg]

Originally Posted by Doug99RS

My remark about taking the fun out of things was sarcasm.

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS), yes, I've heard of it. I've also spent tons of time in front of a computer providing one line tech responses getting one line test results back. Over the years I've found it's more valuable to provide more information, more test procedures and information surrounding tests and possible outcomes.

It's pretty easy to get a feel for a person's capability to actually test stuff when you provide a quick response with a decent amount of detail. If it leads to a lengthy response full of details of what they found then you keep playing ball at the same rate. If all you get is "it don't work" then chances are you're going to have to slow things down or walk away so you waste too much time helping someone who can't help themselves.

Haha Doug...of course i knew it was sarcasm! That is why i posted the infamous meme

Also, i do agree with what you were saying (before and even now)... you can never tell if your overloading someone or just giving them enough to get them by...
However, we both know that helping someone on a forum is a never ending quest... it is probably why you are on this site... to help others, so either giving a short step or a lengthy one will not lessen the time on this site -if that makes sense... you may just have moved on to another persons issue.

This is no disrespect to the OP but people today are in such a rush sometimes that they look for the short answer. TL DR comes to mind.

I am not in anyway knocking you for anything, and i mean no disrespect. But we both are offering help and i hope that no offense was taken. We're all here to help each other.

[Doug99RS]

Originally Posted by Kng Nothg

Haha Doug...of course i knew it was sarcasm! That is why i posted the infamous meme

Also, i do agree with what you were saying (before and even now)... you can never tell if your overloading someone or just giving them enough to get them by...
However, we both know that helping someone on a forum is a never ending quest... it is probably why you are on this site... to help others

Actually, I was told I'd get a voucher for a bag of Oreos when I hit 2000 posts.

[Kng Nothg]

Originally Posted by Doug99RS

Actually, I was told I'd get a voucher for a bag of Oreos when I hit 2000 posts.

Well hell, post-whore it up then!